LAS VEGAS – The seventh ranked University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team rallied from a 14-point first half deficit to defeat No. 24 West Texas A&M 83-81 in overtime on Sunday afternoon in the Division II Holiday Hoops Classic in Las Vegas. The Tritons improve to 10-0 while the Buffs drop to 6-3.

UMSL jumped out to a 5-0 lead less than a minute into the game but West Texas A&M countered with a 17-2 run to take a 10-point lead at the 13:51 mark of the opening frame. The Tritons fought back to within 21-16 after a driving layup by Janeir Harris with 7:44 left in the stanza.

The Buffs went on a 16-7 run over the next 4:07 to build its largest lead of the game at 37-23 on a jumper from Larry Wise.

UMSL outscored WTAMU 9-4 in the span of two minutes to cut the lead to single digits after Matt Enright hit 1-of-2 at the foul line with 1:20 left in the half. Isaiah Fuller had four points in that run while Enright added three and Trever Moore hit two free throws.

The Buffs got a layup from Julius Brown with 0:21 to go to give them an 11-point lead at the intermission.

The Tritons opened the second half on an 18-5 run to take its first lead since early in the game on a three-pointer from Victor Nwagbaraocha with 12:17 remaining in regulation. Nwagbaraocha had 11 points in that run.

West Texas A&M countered with a 14-5 run over the next 4:30 minutes to take a 61-54 lead after a driving layup from Wise.

UMSL cut the deficit to 62-61 after a three-pointer from Bowen Sandquist as part of a 7-1 run with 6:19 left.

The Buffs pushed their lead back to three after a pair of free throws from Brown but the Tritons scored the next four to regain the lead at 65-64 on a layup by Fuller with less than five minutes to play.

There were five ties and six lead changes in the final five minutes. UMSL built a three-point lead as Fuller was fouled on a fast break attempt and hit both free throws with 2:37 left in regulation.

West Texas got three straight points from Damion Thornton to tie the game in the final 2:15. Thornton hit a layup and then 1-of-2 free throws with 1:50 to play.

Nwagbaraocha gave the Tritons the lead back hitting a step back jumper with 1:27 to go but Wise answered on the other end with a layup at the 1:05 mark.

UMSL regained the lead with 0:35 left as Fuller was fouled on a drive to the basket and hit both free throws. The Buffs tied the game again on the ensuing possession as Wise was fouled by Nwagbaraocha and sank both free throws.

The Tritons had a chance to win the game but Fuller was called for a charge with 4.9 seconds remaining giving the ball back to West Texas A&M for the final shot. Brown's shot from 35 feet out was off the mark to send the game to overtime.

The Buffs scored the first four points of the extra period and led 79-75 with 3:29 remaining. Nwagbaraocha brought UMSL back to within two with a jumper on the fastbreak 68 seconds later.

WTAMU pushed its lead back to four after Zach Toussaint hit two free throws with 1:49 left.

Sandquist answered on the next possession hitting a three from the right wing to make it a one-point game with 93 seconds to go.

The Buffs had a chance to extend its lead but Wise missed two shots on the next possession and Sandquist came away with the rebound after the second miss.

With the shot clock winding down, Enright drove and found Harris underneath the basket. Harris hit the layup and was fouled by Wise putting UMSL in front 82-81 with 0:12 left. After a timeout, Harris completed the three-point play to extend the Triton lead to three.

The Buffs had three chances to tie the game in the closing seconds. Brown missed a layup then Addison Wallace and Ahamed Mohammed each missed a tip-in as UMSL held on for the win.

The Tritons shot 58 percent (29-for-50) from the field including 6-of-13 from three and 90 percent at the foul line. Nwagbaraocha led UMSL with a career-high 27 points on a career-high 12 made field goals. Fuller added 17 points while Sandquist finished with 11 points. Enright had a career-high seven assists.

West Texas A&M finished the contest shooting 40 percent (23-for-58) from the floor, was 9-of-24 from three and shot 84 percent at the charity stripe. It outrebounded the Tritons 32-26 and forced 22 turnovers in the contest. Brown led all scorers with 30 points while Wise added 26 and Thornton finished with 15. Wise had a game-high seven rebounds.

UMSL is back in action on Monday afternoon taking on Rollins at 2:15 p.m. (CST) at South Point Arena in Las Vegas.